


Knight's Oath

by electroniccollectiondonut



Series: Camelot's Worst Kept Secret [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen, Good Mordred (Merlin), Lancelot (Merlin) Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-31 19:26:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21150953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/electroniccollectiondonut/pseuds/electroniccollectiondonut
Summary: The knights are not as oblivious as Merlin believes them to be. Thankfully, they like him.





	1. Arthur and Leon

“You wished to see me, sire?” Leon said, closing the door behind him and standing respectfully. Arthur paused in his pacing and gestured to the table.

"Sit.”

Leon did so and waited quietly while Arthur continued to pace for several more minutes before pulling out the other chair.

“Sir Leon, you’ve served Camelot all your life. You are one of my most trusted knights. I want to know your opinion on magic.”

Leon’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly and his breath halted for the barest of instants. What did his prince know? “Magic is illegal, sire,” he said, tone carefully flat.

Arthur leaned back in his seat. “That isn’t an opinion.”

Leon sucked in a breath, gauging what he knew to be true. Uther was ruthless, yes, and he’d taught some of that to his son, but Arthur was more willing to listen—and less likely to get angry if he heard something he didn’t like. “Your father’s methods are… extreme, sire,” he began at last. “Sorcery can certainly be dangerous, but it could just as easily be used in a way that is beneficial to Camelot’s continued prosperity.”

Arthur nodded, and Leon thought perhaps he was off the hook. “And what do you think of Merlin?” the prince asked, dashing his hopes.

Leon couldn’t keep the shock off his face that time, and he ran over what he’d said, wondering how any of it could have implicated Merlin. The boy hadn’t been in Camelot long, but he’d already saved the prince’s life at least twice, though many of the knights knew that it was actually more. But magic or no, he’d quickly endeared himself to even the most stringent of the knights, and they would make Leon’s life hell if the servant was executed because of him.

“Is Merlin being accused of sorcery, sire?” he asked carefully.

Arthur stood and resumed his pacing. “Accused… no, not accused. But he _ is _a sorcerer.”

“Sire-” Leon began, but cut himself off, not quite knowing what to say.

“Leon, I’m asking your advice, not as your prince, but as your friend. Could Merlin be plotting against Camelot?”

“No!” The answer was immediate, without any title tacked on. “No,” Leon said again, more calmly. “Merlin is a good man, and he’s saved your life more than once. If he was working against you or your father, all he would have had to do was not act. He’s a servant who just happens to have magic.”

Arthur nodded. “Thank you, Sir Leon. I had to hear it from someone else.”

“Of course, sire,” he said, barriers between soldier and commander coming up once again.

“You may go.”

Leon stood and bowed out of the room, breathing a sigh of relief. Merlin would be safe.


	2. Lancelot

“So,” said one of the big knights whose name Lancelot didn’t know yet, wedging himself in beside him at the edge of the training ground.

“So,” Lancelot agreed, a little uncertain.

“You want to be a knight?”

“I hope so.”

The knight chuckled and held out a hand for Lancelot to shake. “Sir Bedivere, at your service.”

“Lancelot,” he introduced himself.

Sir Bedivere nodded. “I know. Merlin picked you up, right?”

“He- I suppose he did, yes,” Lancelot said, not sure where the conversation was going. The skinny servant, while endearing, didn’t seem the type of person to run with knights unless he had to. Even if he was far more than he seemed, he was still more scholarly than athletic.

“What do you think of magic?” Sir Bedivere asked, catching Lancelot off guard.

Lancelot looked at the man through narrowed eyes. “If hating magic is some sort of prerequisite to becoming a knight, I think I’d best leave now.”

“Don’t worry,” Sir Bedivere said reassuringly, “it isn’t. But now that I’m sure you don’t blindly hate even the idea of magic, you have to take the Oath.”

“Oath,” Lancelot repeated, not liking what he was hearing. It sounded too much like some strange initiation ritual that would only serve to humiliate him.

"It's kind of like the Code of Chivalry, except this is a little more formal. You swear the Oath or Sir Leon tells the prince that you aren't fit to be a knight of Camelot."

It didn't  _ sound _ like Sir Bedivere was joking. Even so, Lancelot caught Sir Galahad by the arm as he passed them. "Is the Oath a real thing?" he asked.

Sir Galahad nodded. "Every new recruit has to agree or you don't get to be a knight." The he turned around and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Hey!” he called over the sound of clashing steel. “The new recruit needs to take the Oath!”

Training blades were racked and in short order, nearly every knight was gathered around Lancelot, who was starting to be sorry he’d asked. Sir Leon stepped to the front of the group and began to speak in a very official tone.

“As a knight, it will be your duty to protect Camelot. This means that a large part of your duty is to protect Merlin. If you take the Oath, you swear to make his life as easy as possible. This means you do as he says without asking questions, you cover for him in front of the king, and you don’t let him get hurt in battles. Do you swear?”

Lancelot thought it was all rather dramatic, and he wasn’t sure how a single servant could be so important to maintaining order within the kingdom, but Merlin was his friend and he wasn’t going to contest every knight in the city over it. “This I do swear,” he said.

The serious mood dissolved and one of the knights clapped him on the back. Sir Leon smiled. “Welcome to the knights of Camelot.”

It was just a little later, facing off against a beast he couldn’t possibly kill naturally, that Lancelot learned what the Oath meant.


	3. Percival, Elyan, and Gwaine

The first four common born knights sat around a table in what Gwaine claimed to be the best tavern in Camelot, drinking to their accomplishments. There were a few other knights in the room, chatting with barmaids or telling stories to groups of enraptured patrons.

“Evening, gentlemen,” Leon said, sliding into a seat next to Lancelot. The other knights were ranged around the table, relaxed but with a serious air. The four men looked at him, none losing their smiles. “Before you’re officially knighted, we have a bit of an initiation ritual all the new recruits have to go through.”

“Oh, again?” Lancelot asked with a laugh.

Gwaine turned suspicious eyes onto him. “What do you mean, again?”

“I was nearly a knight a few years ago,” he explained. “I thought they were joking when they told me. They weren’t, of course.”

“It’s changed a bit since then,” Leon said.

Gwaine’s eyebrows went up and he grinned. “Oh, it’s like that, is it? Well, what do we have to do?”

“How do you feel about magic?” Leon asked. Three of the four immediately looked at him with suspicion.

“You know what I think,” Lancelot said easily.

“Well, I don’t have a problem with it,” Gwaine said after a while.

“Me either,” Elyan said.

Percival shrugged, unbothered either way.

Leon smiled. “Good. That brings us to the Oath, which has become more of a list of terms in recent years. You agree, or we make sure none of you are ever knighted.”

All three looked nervous.

“As a knight, your job will be to protect Camelot, and therefore Merlin. He’s the king’s manservant, and if you haven’t already met him, you will soon.”

They nodded. They’d all met Merlin, if briefly.

“Merlin is the exception to almost every rule. He’s allowed to be as disrespectful as he likes, we don’t question him when he sneaks around at night, and most importantly, he’s allowed to practice sorcery.” Leon folded his hands and sat back, waiting for their reaction to his words.

Gwaine just nodded, a thoughtful look on his face as he downed the last of his mug of ale. Elyan looked tense, but accepting. Percival shrugged, still unbothered.

“Now, if you swear the Oath, you agree to protect Merlin and generally help him in any capacity he might need, with the understanding that if you don’t, the palace staff will make your life hell.”

“I swear,” Gwaine said.

There was a moment of hesitation, then Percival and Elyan spoke as one. “I swear.”

“Excellent. You’ll fit in nicely,” Leon assured, then slapped his palms on the table and stood. “Good night, then.”


	4. Mordred

Mordred spared a glance for Emrys as the other man jogged after the king, laughing at something he’d said. When his gaze returned to the training field, he startled to find every pair of eyes on him. He took a step back, nervous. “Do you need something?” he asked, his upbringing making him wary of the knights of Camelot even though he was here to join their number.

“It’s time for initiation,” Sir Gwaine said with a grin that did absolutely nothing to assuage Mordred’s fears. Though those fears did lessen significantly when Sir Lancelot slapped the grinning knight upside the head.

“Don’t scare the boy, Gwaine,” he scolded. Then he turned to Mordred. “Every new recruit has to answer a question before he’s allowed to join our number. Sir Leon usually administers the test, but since your knighthood ceremony is tomorrow and he’s not in the city, we’ll do it.”

Mordred nodded, relaxing now that he knew it was only a question. “Alright, ask me.”

“What do you think of magic?” Sir Elyan asked.

Mordred felt himself freeze. Had he given something away? Was he meant to say he hated magic? Were they going to march him to the pyre if he didn’t? He took a breath to steady himself. He would be honest with them, though it made him almost light headed with terror.

“I was around a lot of druids as a child,” he said carefully, and it wasn’t really a lie. “I don’t think magic is evil.”

“You’re a druid?” Sir Percival asked, interested, and Mordred was fairly sure it was one of the few times he’d actually heard the big knight speak.

“Er…”

“Of course he’s not a druid,” Sir Lancelot said, though he had a smile and a glimmer in his eye that said he knew otherwise. “If he told us he was a druid, that would be tantamount to admitting to magic, which is illegal in Camelot.”

“Right!” Mordred said, glad that none of them seemed angry as he latched onto the defense. “I never said I was a druid!”

“Druid or no, you still have to take the Oath,” Sir Gwaine said, and Mordred decided that the grin must just always be there. At least, that’s what he would tell himself, because Sir Gwaine’s grins were the kind that meant the wearer was about one second from doing something insane, and if it was always there, then it couldn’t mean anything. 

Sir Lancelot began to explain the Oath, as it seemed that he was the unofficial leader of their group. “The Oath says that you will not make Merlin’s life difficult. His orders are essentially second to the King and Queen’s, he’s allowed to do whatever he likes, and you’ll protect him as much as you can. This means not turning him in for sorcery.”

Sir Lancelot expected a reaction of surprise at his words, Mordred was sure, but the servant was  _ Emrys _ , of course he had magic. “All this I swear,” Mordred said.

The knights all smiled and one of them—Sir Ector, he thought—slung an arm around his shoulders. “So, what’s it like definitely not being a druid?” he asked, eyebrows raised in amusement and honest curiosity, and Mordred relaxed even further. He laughed and began to explain. This wasn’t what he’d expected, but it was good.


End file.
